How to get a good picture from Playstation games?

[Protoman]

Famicom and Super Famicom games look fine on my HD TV, and PS2/Gamecube/Wii with simple HDMI adapters(or component cables) look perfectly fine too. But when it comes to PS1, there are issues... Component via PS2 doesn't display anything, regular RCA cables look not so good, and even a RGB cable isn't very good as it for me anyway makes the picture too bright, and shows a sort of "grid" distortion in the graphics.
What does one do to display PS1 games on a HD TV in a good way? The framemeister? That thing is very expensive...

[P]

It's crucial that you use a good quality video cable. Stripes or grid artifacts on the screen sounds like you use one of those $10 RGB cables, they are really just pieces of junk.
Also PS1 and PS2 uses slightly different cables with different components inside, and using the wrong one may result in a too bright or a too dark picture.
You need either official RGB cables (may be hard to find as everyone used RF or CVBS back in the day) or a good quality aftermarket one. RGC makes good quality aftermarket cables for all kinds of consoles, including proper RGB cables for PS1 and PS2 (and even with a CVBS-breakout for Guncon support). The only downside is that the country they reside in decided that quitting EU might be a fantastic idea so you have to pay shitty customs.


Video output options for PS1 and PS2:
For the Playstation you only have RGB (sync-on-luma or sync-on-CVBS, there is no CSYNC on PS1), S-video, CVBS (AKA composite) and RF to choose between and RGB is obviously the best one, and an RGB cable wired to use sync-on-luma is a bit better than one with sync-on-CVBS. If you have a TV that requires CSYNC you need a sync-stripper thing that separates the sync signal from the luma or CVBS (or an RGB cable with one built-in).

For the Playstation 2 you have the exact same options as above but also component (YPbPr) is added. Though RGB is usually the best, people say that component is equally good here, I don't know I use RGB myself. If you use an RGB cable and want to play a game that supports 480p, AKA EDTV the thing between SDTV (480i) and HDTV (780p and up), your TV must support RGsB (AKA sync-on-green) since the PS2 switches to this in 480p mode. Some TV-sets doesn't support this, and you might need to check the service manual for the TV or something to know. Component doesn't have this problem though, and I guess that's why some people recommend component over RGB for PS2. Of course you need a TV that supports component in that case which isn't too common on consumer CRT TV-sets.
Also don't forget that you have to go into the PS2 options menu to select if you use RGB or component, and if you pick the wrong one and the picture disappears you may have to change the setting in the dark.


I don't know for HDTV, you may need a Framemeister, Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC) or one of the Retrotink devices if your TV can't handle analog signals very well (or at all, the newest TV-sets seems to really be digital monitors). Yes they are expensive. I use a CRT (SDTV) and my (pretty old) LCD can also do analog video good enough for my Wii, so I have never used any of those upscalers.